This electromagnetic interface (called ZeroN) allows people to place objects in 3-d space, and the interface can remember where things have been placed in the past (a sort of version control).

Researcher Jinha Lee:

lee said:

With this functionality, ZeroN can be adopted in many applications: animation prototyping, physics simulation/education, and 3-D design studios, etc. Many of the control that users had to have with mouse and a screen can be tangible and more intuitive.

This reminded me of the rant by UX specialist Bret Victor about how we are tactile creatures and we work best with tactile feedback when manipulating things. This ZeroN could be a start in that direction.

Yallow
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2012-06-08T13:49:47Z —
#2

Wow this is a very interesting article! It really does remind me of Iron Man and Tony Stark's tactile computer UI.

I can see this being used for many applications, even in something as far out as fighter pilot cockpits to reverse some of the strain that comes with making high G turns.